Designing a Virtual Campus

At this stage many of us are focusing on the design elements of single
courses offered through the WWW. But as soon as we move beyond a single
course we begin to think about degree and noncredit programs. A degree is
far more than the sum of many isolated courses. If the degrees we offer
through the WWW are to be compared with degrees offered on a campus we
must examine those elements which must be transfered into the virtual
realm. The best way of doing this is to design a virtual campus which
will meet the needs of students in the same ways that a physical campus
does.

This raises many questions however. What needs are met for students
on a physical campus? How many of these needs can be met in the virtual
realm? What are the best ways of doing this? What additional features can
be developed in the virtual campus that are lacking on the physical campus?
What are some of the tools we can use in our virtual campuses (webchat,
3-D graphic user interfaces, simulations, user built areas, etc.)?

There are three different levels of learning which can occur on a
physical campus. These are technical learning (learning how, learning
from information transfer), learning for meaning (gaining greater
understanding, change in perspective), and emancipatory learning
(transformational learning, realizing your potential, gaining greater
control over your life). Many of the "virtual" campuses or collection of
courses which are being developed now focus almost exclusively on the
technical level of learning - information transfer. If we are to have
viable web-based campuses then I believe we must design for all three
levels of learning to occur.